John Avalos: Keep SFPD out of NRA

Published 4:31 pm, Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Supervisor John Avalos (right) introduced an ordinance to remove part of the Police Department's code that allows National Rifle Association membership.

Supervisor John Avalos (right) introduced an ordinance to remove part of the Police Department's code that allows National Rifle Association membership.

Photo: Jason Henry, Special To The Chronicle

John Avalos: Keep SFPD out of NRA

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For the San Francisco Police Department, joining the National Rifle Association would be quite the head-scratcher, considering the city's recent efforts to crack down on high-powered ammunition and divest its retirement holdings in gun manufacturers. But Supervisor John Avaloswants to make sure that the department will no longer have that option.

According to police code regulations that Avalos said have been on the books since the 1930s, the department is authorized to hold NRA membership and collect NRA registration fees from firearm tournaments held at the police range near Lake Merced.

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Avalos introduced an ordinance at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting to eliminate both parts of the police code, but noted that it would not affect the right of any individual member of the Police Department to join the NRA.

"The NRA is an organization that promotes more gun usage," Avalos said. "It's not in sync with our values as a city."

Police Chief Greg Suhrsaid he believes the department hasn't been an NRA member since at least 2004 and supports the change, even if it won't have anything more than a symbolic impact on police activities.

"I'm not aware of any firearm tournaments currently being held at the police range," he said. "Certainly not since I've been chief."

Taking a stand: Legislation banning the sale of certain kinds of ammunition and requiring arms dealers to report sales of 500 or more rounds or more passed the Board of Supervisors unanimously Tuesday.

The measure, introduced by Supervisor Malia Cohenone week after the Connecticut school massacre in December, prohibits the possession of hollow bullets intended for law enforcement and military use.

"While this is not a panacea to fix our gun violence, I think we all agree we need to do everything in our power as a city and use every tool that we have to address the impact of senseless gun violence," Cohen said.

Both Mayor Ed Leeand the Police Department are backing the legislation, though Lee predicted that it will face legal challenges.

A letter to city officials from the California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees warned that the proposal is "very likely unconstitutional" and that the notification requirements "would jeopardize the safety of law abiding firearm owners by ignoring very real public safety and privacy issues."

- Neal J. Riley

Pedal power: The wheels haven't started spinning yet on the city's $7 million bike-share program downtown, but Supervisor Scott Wieneris calling for everyone in the city to be able to rent a bike by 2014.

The pilot program is scheduled to start this fall with 35 stations and 350 bikes downtown. The cost of adding thousands more bikes has been initially pegged at about $30 million, which Wiener hopes could be paid for in public-private partnerships.

Wiener introduced the resolution at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting. He noted that New York City, Chicago, Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C., and Boston have plans to introduce bike sharing or have programs already.

"All over the world, cities are recognizing the tremendous value of city-wide bike-share programs in reducing traffic, improving public transit and stimulating the local economy," Wiener said in a statement. "Here in San Francisco, we should be doing everything we can to establish and start reaping the benefits from a full-scale bike share program."

Supporters of bike sharing said citywide programs can reduce traffic, and Wiener noted that in Hangzhou, China, 78 percent of car owners used bike share for trips they used to take by car once the 60,000-bike program was implemented.

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